Doffing mechanism.



NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PERCY OLOUGII AND JOHN OLOUGH, OF KEIGIILEY, ENGLAND.

DOFFING MECHANISM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 644,001, dated February 20, 1900.

Application filed June 15,1899- Serial No. 720,729. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, PERCY CLOUGH and JOHN OLOUGH, spinners and manufacturers, subjects of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Grove Mills, Keighley, in the county of York, England, have invented certain new and useful improvements in or relating to the operation of doffing by mechanical means the full bobbins in flier spinning, twisting, doubling, and analogous operations, (for which we have made application for patent in Great Britain, No. 24,162, bearing date November 16, 1898,) of which the following is a specification.

This invention is designed as an improvement upon the means of mechanical doffing of bobbins disclosed in United States Patent No. 534,139, granted to us February 12, 1895. In the machine illustrated in said patent the fliers are lifted oi the spindles to a certain height and afterward lowered onto them again. In this operation a number of threads, the number varying according to the kind of material used, the thickness, &c., wriggle out of the flier eye or twizzle. When this happens, these threads must all be set right by hand, causing a serious loss of time.

According to our present invention a cover or surrounding case for the flier-twizzle is provided, the same being made of long-pile fabric, fur, bristles, or other like material. The pile-threads entirely inclose the twizzle and prevent the thread from wriggling out during the part of the doffing operation when that is possible.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents a sectional side elevation showing certain of the doffing parts of a flier spinning-machine, and Fig. 2 is a detail front elevation of the cutting mechanism for severing the thread prior to the removal of the bobbins from their spindles.

The wire-boards 1 are hinged at -2 and can all be turned up out of the way at once, as may be required during the operation of doffing, by means of a flat bar 3, running the whole length of the wire-boards. In the operation of the apparatus for performance of dotting the fliers 4 are all brought into line by the following means: On a shaft 5, mounted in bearings 6 across the frame and adapted to be rocked by suitable means, is a series of arms 7, which lie out of the way, as shown in dotted lines, until doffing is to be effected, when they are turned up each against one arm of the flier to prevent its rotation. Each of the spindles S is provided with screwthreads adapted to engage corresponding screw-threads in the boss at the upper end of the flier and is adapted to be turned for the purpose of disengaging its threads from those on the flier. When the fliers 4 have been unscrewed from the spindles 8, the stopper-arms 7 are turned away, and the fliers are now engaged and lifted by a series of arms 9 10, the upper arms 9 having openings therein for receiving the necks of the fliers, and the lower arms 10 consisting of pegs so arranged as to pass the spindles and come underneath the shoulders of the fliers. The arms 9 and 10 are secured to flat bars 11 12, respectively, extending along the whole length of the bobbin-receptacle 13. The upper bar 11 is hinged, as shown at 14, and the lower-bar 12 is secured to L-shaped supports or brackets 15, carried by brackets or sliding supports 16 at the ends of and at suitable distances along the receptacle 13. The supports 15 are adapted to be rocked upon an axis 17, so as to bring the flier-lifters 9 10 nearer to or farther from the spindles 8. The upper bar 11 is provided with a handle 18 to enable it to be turned, as required,-on its hinges 14. The bracket 15 is provided with an adjustable stop 19, which is adapted to engage the bracket 16 and limit its forward movement. Secured to said bracket 15 is a series of angle-plates 20, (one for each spindle and placed opposite the spaces between the spindles,) carrying brushes 21 of long-pile fabric, fur, bristles, or similar material in such a position that when the flierlifters 9 and 10 are holding the fliers 4 brush 21 completely covers the twizzles 22 of two adjacent fliers. This prevents the threads escaping from the fliers and allows the latter to be moved backward and forward during the doffin g operation. As a result, it becomes possible to throw on the empty bobbins over the top of the flier-lifters. The supports 16 for the bobbin-receptacle 13 are adapted to be raised and lowered, the same being guided in its up-and-down movements on the vertical supports 23 by lugs or projections 24 24. The

said supports 16 are provided with bearings which carry a rotary shaft 25, carrying at suitable distances pulleys 26, provided with chains 27, which support the bottom 28 of the receptacle 13. By causing the pulleys 26 to rotate, the bottom 28 can be raised or lowered according to the direction of movement, and the same may be held in any position by the engagement of the pawl 20 with the ratchetwheel 30. The bottom 28 is guided in its movements by sleeves or collars 31, which embrace the vertical guides The receptacle 13 carries a blade or cutter 32, extending the whole length of the frame and having a series of notches or slits orsaw-' cuts therein, into which the thread or yarn is laid by the fall of the bobbins in the receptacle 13. Adjacent to the blade 32 is a bar 33, carrying a series of looped cutting-blades 34, which span the blade The bar 33 rests on the bracket 16 and can be drawn backward and forward longitudinally of the frame. The blades 34 meet the threads at right angles and sever them all at one stroke. The lifter plate or bar 35 is caused to traverse by the ordinary means during spinning; but for dotting the same is raised to an elevated position by suitable means. The said lifter-bar is carried by lifter-spindles, such as are commonly used for the purpose in the ordinary spinning operation. To remove the full bobbins 36 from the lifter-bar 35 into the receptacle 13, the lifter-bar may be tilted upon the lifter-spindle by pressing the flier stopperarms 7 upward against said lifter-bar 35,when on account of the inclination of the lifter-bar the bobbins will fall into the receptacle 13.

The fresh supply of empty bobbins to replace the full ones is arranged upon the series of pegs 37, secured to a flat bar 38, extending along the receptacle and rounded where it rests in bearings 39 of the support 16. The bar 38 is adapted to rotate in the bearings 39 and at the proper time the pegs 37 are all overturned to the position necessary to apply said bobbins to the spindles. When in said position, the bobbins slide from the pegs onto the spindles.

When a series of bobbins has become full, the operation of doffing may be performed as follows: The machine having been stopped, the sliding receptacle 13, with its attached parts, is lowered to a point where by causing the supports 15 to move on their axis 1.7 toward the frame the pegs or arms 10 would come under the shoulders of the fliers on the spindles. The wire-boards 1 are raised simultaneously. The fliers are unscrewed by turning the spindles 8, and the supports 15 are then turned toward the frame, so that the arms 10 thereon pass under the shoulders of the fliers and the brushes 21 inclose the twizzles 22 of said fliers. lVhcn the arms 10 are far enough forward, the stops 19 engage the bracket 16 and check the forward movement of said arms. The bar 11, previously turned so that the arms 9 are pointed upward, is now turned on its hinges into the position shown in the drawings by means of the handle 18 until thearms 9 inclose the bosses or stems of the fliers. The sliding motion of the receptacle 13 is now reversed and the parts lifted, carrying the fliers 4 to a height at which the full bobbins can come off and the empty bobbins go on the spindles 8. Before this is possible the brackets 15 must be moved backward into the position shown in the drawings. This motion would cause many of the threads to escape from the flier-twizzles if no brushes 21 were provided. At the same time that the fliers 4 are raised by the upward movement of the receptacle 13 the lifter-plate 35, with the full bobbins 36, is also raised until said bobbins are nearly clear of the spindles. During all these operations the bottom 28 has been close up to the main part of the receptacle 13 and held there by the engagement of the pawl 29 with the ratchetwheel 30. The full bobbins 36 are now tilted over in the manner already described and they fall upon the bottom 28. The lifter-bar 35 is then lowered, and the bottom 28 is also lowered by means of the shaft 25, pulley 20, and chain 27 until said bottom reaches the proper point, which may be determined in anysuitable manner, as by stops on the guides 23. The thread is thus lengthened in the easiest possible manner. The receptacle '13 is now lowered, (the bottom 28 thereof remaining stationary,) carrying with it the fliers 4, until the point is reached at which the pegs 37 can be overturned upon the spindles 8. \Vhen this point has been reached, the bar 38 is rocked in its bearings 39, carrying with it the pegs 37, until the empty bobbins carried by said pegs are delivered to the upper ends of the spindles 8, after which said bar 38 and the pegs carried thereby are returned to their normal positions, as shown in the drawings. The bracket 15 is now turned on its axis 17 toward the spindles 8, and the receptacle 13 is lowered (the bottom 28 thereof still remaining stationary) until the fliers 4 are on the spindles 8. The bar 11 is then turned up out of the way, the receptacle 13 is lowered a little farther, and the bracket 15 is drawn back from the spindles, the wire-boards 1 are lowered, the lifter-bar 35 and saw-cut blades 32 of receptacle 13 are put in position for winding thread upon the empty bobbins, and said thread is wound thereon by the rotation of the fliers in the spinning direction. The thread in this operation falls into the nicks or notches of blade 32, and when enough thread has been wound onto the empty bobbins the bar 33, carrying the blades 34, is quickly drawn along the blade 32, cutting the threads which lie under tension between the fliers and the full bobbins in the receptacle 13. The bottom 28 is now drawn up to the main portion of the receptacle l3, and the whole of said receptacle, including said bottom, is raised up above the operators head, and the machine is restarted.

Having now described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a spinning-machine, the combination with a series of fliers and dofling mechanism for the bobbins, of a series of tufts, and means for causing the engagement of said tufts with the twizzles of said fliers, as and,

for the purpose set forth.

2. In a spinning-machine, the combination with a series of fliers, and doffing mechanism for the bobbins, of a series of tufts, means for causing the engagement of said tufts with the twizzies of said fliers, and means for maintaining said tufts in engagement with said 15 fiier-twizzies during the doffing operation, as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in presence of the subscribing wit- 

